The tomb of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue—the greatest American architect of his generation—rests in the Episcopal Church of the Intercession in the far northwest of Manhattan. Here we explore the inscriptions and sculptural contents of this "token of the affection of his friends" and "his great architectural creations that beautify the land."
Read MoreA profile of one of my personal favorite church buildings and a "definition" of church architecture based on reflections on the Transfiguration.
Read MoreThe historical context and some potential strategies for contemporary implementation of the veiling of images during Lent. As an example, I show how I created the veils used by my own parish.
Read More"Without doubt, Our Lady of Chartres is still a majestic and sublime edifice. But for all the beauty she has maintained with age, it is difficult not to sigh with indignation before the damage and countless mutilations to which men have subjected the venerable monument." (Thus spake Victor Hugo)
Read MoreMilton A. Ryan was most well known for his mid-century modern residential architecture, especially in the Terrell Hills neighborhood of San Antonio. But he also designed two award-winning churches: the Victoria church in 1952 and University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio in 1954.
Read MorePlans are in place to demolish the University Lutheran Center serving the University of Texas at Austin this fall and replace it with high-rise student housing with a ground-level store-front Student Center. While the project is an opportunity to advance the center's ministry and satisfy students' needs, the destruction means the loss of a unique structure with a strong ministerial character and a place significant to Texas heritage.
Read MoreA history and description of the Chapel for the Children (1962) designed by David Graeber, an interfaith chapel on the grounds of the Austin State Supported Living Center that progressed the idiom of the post-war A-frame church.
Read MoreThe architects of the current church building were the Austin firm Jessen Jessen Millhouse & Greeven with Robert George Mather as the principle designer. It is a masterful abstraction of a Roman basilica which retains that gracious grandeur of the earliest Christian basilicas which is lacking in the majority of its contemporary churches. The height of the interior volume in proportion to its plan accounts for much of the efficacy of this space when compared to its peers.
Read MoreAfter questioning polemics in Part 3, we now turn to the principles which are the true essence of Pugin's texts. Pugin only listed two principles, so this is an attempt to enumerate the remaining principles with attention to how they apply in increasingly complex contexts.
Read MoreThe third installment of this bicentenary series explores the categorization of Pugin's work as polemical and its relationship to contemporary polemics as an argument for an openness to his continued influence.
Read MoreOn the Propriety of Gothic Revival for Contemporary Worship Patterns, or, The Dream of the 1890s is Alive in Portland. Wherein we examine the basis for Pugin's arguments, the relationship between formal building expression and formal worship expression, and three examples of contemporary worship occurring in Gothic Revival buildings.
Read MoreAn exploration of the moral implications of unpaid internships and who guild-based apprenticeships could redeem the architecture profession.
Read MoreThe first in a year-long series of articles examining the work and influence of AWN Pugin to celebrate his 200th anniversary of his birth.
Read MoreA brief profile of the first modern central altar parish church in England.
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